In line with its statutory duties, Stanton under Bardon Parish Council aims to publish as much information as possible online and is committed to openness and accountability. However, some items are only available in print and the Council is entitled to withhold certain information. As such, the Council has adopted the Information Commissioners Office Model Publication Scheme that sets out what information Council will automatically or routinely publish or makes available to the public.
The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Charges made by the Council for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum. Material which is published and accessed on a website will be provided free of charge. However, charges may be made for actual disbursements incurred such as photocopying, postage and packaging etc. For further details, please read our Model Publication Scheme which can be accessed below:
Freedom of Information Requests and the Publication Scheme
Information not listed can still be requested under a Freedom of Information request through the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) which was introduced to help bring about a culture of openness within the public sector and give the public a better understanding of how authorities carry out their duties; why they make the decisions they do; and how they spend public money.. This Act gives people a general right of access to information held by public authorities unless it is exempt information. Information held by public authorities should be available and accessible to everyone.
Requests can be made by making a written request to the Parish Clerk who will reply within 20 working days after receipt of the request to indicate what information is available and how it can be obtained. In exceptional circumstances some information may be available only by viewing in person. Obligations under disability and discrimination legislation and provide information in other forms and formats will be adhered to when providing information in accordance with this scheme.
Every public authority has two main duties under the FOI act:
- to adopt and maintain a publication scheme, overseen by an independent Information Commissioner, which sets out:
– details of information it will routinely make available;
– how the information can be obtained;
– whether there is any charge for it. - to comply with all requests for the information, unless there is an exemption from disclosure. As a Parish Council, we normally have a maximum of 20 working days to respond to the request however there are circumstances when this time limit can be extended.
Please follow this link for full details about the Freedom of Information Act
How do I make an FOI request?
If there is something you would like to know about the Parish Council’s activities, please submit your request by:
- Email - clerk@stantonunderbardonpc.org.uk
- Post - Stanton under Bardon Parish Council, Stanton under Bardon Village Hall, 2 St John Cole Crescent, Stanton under Bardon, Leicestershire, LE67 9AE
All requests must provide a valid email or postal address for us to reply to.
When you submit your request, please give as much detail as possible to help the Council correctly identify the information that you are seeking. If we do need more detail from you to identify the information, we will contact you.
Before you submit your request, we recommend that you read visit the Information Commissioners Office website.
The Parish Council will have 20 working days to respond. We will advise you if we are likely to need to extend the time.
Exemptions
There are legal reasons why information may not be released to you. These are known as exceptions/exemptions. If we do not release information to you because an exception/exemptions applies we will explain why.
Requests under FIO may be refused because:
- it is a matter covered by data protection legislation - eg it is commercially sensiitve or confidential
- it is available under our publication scheme
- it might be considered prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.
Subject Access Requests
Individuals have the right to know what data you hold on them, why the data is being processed and whether it will be given to any third party. They also have the right to be given this information in a hard copy known as a Subject Access Request.
Subject access requests are different to Freedom of Information Requests because with a subject access request, a person is requesting a copy of all of the data held about them personally.
Please click on the link below to view Stanton under Bardon Parish Council’s policy outlining its procedure for handling a Subject Access Request.